


A Different Kind of Knowing

by Daisiestdaisy (Doyle)



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, First Meetings, Gen, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-19
Updated: 2017-08-19
Packaged: 2018-12-17 10:34:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11849763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doyle/pseuds/Daisiestdaisy
Summary: “Did you know that male emperor penguins keep their eggs warm by balancing them on their feet?”Same first meeting, different universe.





	A Different Kind of Knowing

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a prompt. The concept of this kind of AU - a universe where everyone's soul manifests physically as a 'daemon', in the form of an animal that represents their inner self - is from Philip Pullman's _His Dark Materials_.

The peculiar cop, or whatever he is – “Edward. Nygma.” – is thin and tall, with horn-rimmed glasses and an unflattering haircut, and a reddish-colored little terrier daemon sitting on her haunches at his side. Policemen do seem disproportionately predisposed to dog daemons, in Oswald’s too-extensive experience, though he’s never seen any half so pretty as the sleek collie that trots along at Jim Gordon’s heels.

“Did you know that male emperor penguins keep their eggs warm by balancing them on their feet?” Nygma rattles out, an excited rush of words. “Isn’t that neat?”

He’s looking directly at Luda as he says it. Oswald doesn’t know whether that’s gaucheness or a calculated insult, and he doesn’t much care. “She’s a girl,” he snaps. Luda, shy of strangers, peeps out warily from behind his good leg.

“Oh!” He blinks. “I figured as much. Statistically, it’s much more likely for a man to… I was just throwing out some general trivia. I didn’t mean to imply... anything.”

Well, turnabout is only fair, so even though Oswald has a mother who raised him with manners – unlike some, it would seem – he stares down at the man’s own daemon.

And she looks back, canting her head and grinning up at him with a mouthful of sharp teeth, and it’s only then that he really looks at the pointed face and bright, clever eyes. Not a dog. A fox.

“I know who you are,” Nygma says, sly, as though they’re co-conspirators.

“Then you know you’re standing too close.”

The smile wilts on Nygma’s face. Good. And he takes a step back; better.

The vixen-daemon, on the other hand, seems to grin even wider. She gets to her feet, but instead of following her human right away she slinks in a languid circle around Oswald’s feet, so unnervingly close that Luda has to pull her wings tight to her body to avoid being brushed by her tail.

Nygma doesn’t seem to even notice, turning away towards the stairs without looking to see if she’s following. Oswald’s accustomed to his mother’s songbird fluttering all over their apartment, so it doesn’t normally bother him to see a daemon a little further than usual from its human, but something about this is just... off. Not just the daemon. Something unsettling behind his new would-be friend’s bland, helpful smile.

But then he spies Jim Gordon and remembers he came here for a purpose, and he won’t let himself be distracted from it, especially by a man and daemon he’s never going to see again in any case, and he puts it out of his mind.


End file.
